Greetings guys, gals, and non-binary pals!

I had hoped to not have to make a post such as this, but in a bid to “save the economy,” the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has stopped enforcing environmental laws. According to these newly relaxed regulations, businesses failing to meet previous standards of public health and environmental security will not be fined, penalized, or subject to any civil penalties, wrote Knickmeyer, of the Associated Press. Many of these businesses are from the oil and gas industry and are often routinely cited for dumping hazardous materials already.

Removing these regulations severely limits potential actions taken by environmentalists, climate change scientists, and wildlife officers. In ending the possibility of civil litigation, companies that have continuously polluted the environment regardless of laws broken are handed free-reign. As Gina McCarthy, the president of the National Resources Defense Council, stated, this is granting the companies “an open license to pollute.”

Indeed, under these new, lax regulations, corporations noted to have not met EPA standards simply have to show that they tried to fix the problem, but were unable to.

While there has been significant outcry from environmental groups following last Thursday’s announcement, the new leniency remains. At present, the positive take-away from this is that regulations against criminal polluter activity remain intact. However, in light of new policy, it is unsure how strictly they will be enforced. Time will tell, but if corporations that already disregarded environmental regulations are left to their own devices, we will likely all be feeling the consequence in short order.

These regulations are in place to protect the water, air, and land from those who would wish it harm. These are the very same essential resources that we need, especially in times like this when so many are already significantly impacted by a pandemic virus that tends to attack the respiratory system.

Trump and his administration have cited the EPA’s regulations as being “unfriendly to businesses” and to a degree, they are correct. Just as humans are expected to comport themselves with certain compassion and decorum while in social situations and maintain professional interactions with peers, so too are businesses expected to present themselves in a manner fitting of investment and continued patronage. From past events and this depiction, oil and gas companies are more akin to stereotypical rich frat boys, expecting their wealth and self-perceived superiority to present their “positive” character attributes.

Not only has Trump repeatedly decried the severity of the Covid-19 outbreak and flippantly stated that people will be back to work by Easter, he and his administration have been directly instrumental in stripping power from a regulatory body that has been in place for the safety of our environment and inhabitants for half a century. While many regulations have been rolled back during the Trump presidency, this is the first time there has been a mass-hiatus of regulatory authority. This comes just a few months after significant deregulation of federal waterways, citing the need for relaxed restrictions in order to assist farmer and rural communities.

Meanwhile, several states, including South Dakota, Kentucky, and West Virginia have passed new legislation criminalizing the inhibiting, impeding, or tampering of “key infrastructure assets” like petroleum pipelines. This effectively criminalizes protest against these companies in a bid for them to avoid dealing with the aforementioned environmental regulations they have already attempted to skirt countless times. This “shock doctrine,” as author Naomi Klein has dubbed it is “the phenomenon wherein polluters and their government allies push through unpopular policy changes under the smokescreen of a public emergency.”

There is no doubt that the necessitated cessation of normal commerce will continue to negatively impact finances. However, the answer is not to then halt vital environmental regulations in place to protect both the population and the environment. In a time of crisis when we must rely on one another and protect our environment, it is unconscionable that potential financial advancement might trump public health and safety.

In trying times such as these, stay home if at all possible, shelter in place, practice social/physical distancing, and we’ll get through this together.

All the best,

Kate

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Sources:

1. Knickmeyer, Ellen, “Citing Outbreak, EPA Has Stopped Enforcing Environmental Laws,” Associated Press, PBS News Hour, Mar 27, 2020.

2. Kilgannon, Trish, “Rolling Back Federal Regulation will Help Business, Farmers Say,” Baldwinsville Spectrum News, Jan. 23, 2020.

3. Kaufman, Alexander, “States Quietly Pass Laws Criminalizing Fossil Fuel Protests Amid Coronavirus Chaos,” Huffpost: Politics, Mar 27, 2020.

4. EPA, “Air Pollution Sources and Effects,” Our Nation’s Air, 2019